Title: How do we view others? The image of others in language and culture

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Topic:

An image of others. Stereotypes fixed in the language.

Target group:

7th‑grade students of an eight‑year elementary school.

Core curriculum

I. Literary and cultural education.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

3. interprets works of art (painting, graphics, sculpture, photography).

II. Language education.

2. Differentiation of language. Student:

1. recognises the diversity of vocabulary, including recognizing national vocabulary and limited vocabulary (eg scientific terms, archaisms, colloquialisms); recognizes native and borrowed words, knows types of abbreviations and abbreviations - defines their functions in the text;

2. understands the importance of homonyms;

3. distinguishes the content and scope of the word.

3. Language communication and language culture. Student:

1. understands what language politeness consists of and uses it in the statements;

2. distinguishes between the standard and functional language standards and applies to them.

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

1. functionally uses rhetorical means and understands their impact on the recipient;

2. recognises and distinguishes the means of persuasion and manipulation in advertising texts, defines their function;

3. recognises linguistic manipulation and contrasts it with the principles of ethics of expression.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

1. reliably, with respect for copyrights, uses information;

2. develops the ability to think critically and formulate opinions.

The general aim of education

Students learn about stereotypes fixed in the language and culture and analyse them.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• learning to learn;

• cultural awareness and expression.

Operational objectives

Student:

• discusses the functions of stereotypes;

• gives examples of stereotypes (also in phraseologies and proverbs) and explains their meaning;

• independently analyses the stereotypical image of the world fixed in language;

• talks about the consequences of using this type of simplification.

Teaching methods / techniques

• giving: talk;

• practical: exercises concerned;

• programmed: using a computer, using an e‑manual.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher determines the aim of the class: the students will talk about stereotypes fixed in the language.

2. The lecturer draws attention to the fact that many patterns are taken care of without reflection, which is why it is important to think about what surrounds us and interpret our own world.

Realization

1. Students check the meaning of the word stereotype in the dictionary. The teacher talks about the image of the world, often simplified, leading to the growth of intolerance towards what is different. He talks to students about who stereotypes may be and what their functions are (eg taming reality).

2. Students, working in pairs, write on the interactive board in an abstract known to them stereotypes concerning various social / occupational groups and evaluate their color (positive, negative, neutral).

3. The teacher emphasises that the presence of stereotypes in the language is also evidenced by common phrases – idioms, metaphors, proverbs.

4. Students perform an interactive exercise – they combine phraseologies and proverbs with their meanings, and then they wonder what stereotypical features have been fixed in them.

5. On the basis of anecdotes and jokes prepared at home, students reconstruct the images of Poles and other nationalities hidden in them. Then, working in groups, they look for examples of phraseologies in which people are spoken about representatives of nations, professional groups, etc., and assess whether they are positive or negative opinions.

6. The teacher asks students which nations they associate positively with, which negatively and encourages them to do the exercises. It presents a CBOS survey on nations liked and disliked by Poles. After learning about the results, students wonder what stereotypes can be the reason for this state of affairs, and take the floor in the discussion about: Feelings of others should not depend on their origin, religion or color.

7. The teacher notes that there are also images of animals, plants or objects in the language (eg głupi jak but, wierny jak pies, silny jak dąb, chytry jak lis). Students perform interactive exercise No. 6 - they assign phraseologies containing stereotypical images of animals and plants to two groups (positive / negative markings , eg kocia muzyka, gołębie serce), then to each group they add two examples.

8. The teacher asks students what – in their opinion – affects the spread of stereotypical beliefs (if necessary, he points to the conclusion that they are often mass media).

Summary

The teacher gives students short surveys with self‑evaluation.

Then he/she sums up the classes, asking the students the question:

• How can we strive not to perpetuate the stereotypical image of the world?

Homework

Find two ads that use stereotypes about gender, social roles or national characteristics. Indicate to which beliefs they refer, whom they are directed to and what their effect is to be.

Example: advertising German cars, using stereotypical image of Germans who like order, who value solid performance - the effect: to create the impression that the advertised car will be solid and reliable.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

How do we view others? The image of others in language and culture

Every language and every culture portrays a certain image of others, which is an attempt to learn about that which is unknown. We explain the world around us with the help of the language we have been learning since we were children, in addition to culture, which gives us the tools to interpret everything we come into contact with. We follow certain patterns subconsciously, which is why it is important to reflect on everything that we have inherited.

An image of another is, in other words, a commonly accepted vision or idea of someone. When we think of members of a given group in a stereotypical way and unthinkingly repeat certain well‑worn phrases (such as, for example, „chefs are fat”, „Chinese people like rice”), we are using a simplified image of another. These „pictures in our heads” influence our perception of reality and our behaviour. Stereotypes can be about people from many different groups, including, among others, environmental (pupils, students), professional (teachers, IT specialists) and national (Americans, Germans). They can be neutral, positive or negative. The latter can give rise to intolerance and hostility, since they are emotionally coloured and are based on false generalisations.

The presence of stereotypes in language and culture is made evident not only by individual expressions, but also by common phrases, metaphors, proverbs and anecdotes.

Stereotypical views of others are passed down from generation to generation, as they are deeply rooted in language and culture. As an example, „Niemiec” in Polish, is literally ‘ktoś, kto jest niemy’, meaning someone who speaks an incomprehensible language. The literal meaning of the Polish word „Kozak” is ‘członek wspólnoty kozackiej’ (a member of the Cossak community), however „kozak” (written with a lowercase letter) means ‘śmiałek, chwat’ (a daredevil). What is interesting is that stereotyped images of not only people, but also animals, plants or objects around us play a part in language and culture. After all, we say „as faithful as a dog”, „as fit as a fiddle”, „as poor as a church mouse”, „a black sheep”, „as hungry as a horse”, „a sly fox”, „as strong as an oak”, „weeping willow”, „dumb as rocks”, etc.

We encounter stereotypical descriptions of others both in literature, as well as in the press, on the radio, on television, and on the Internet. The mass media create simplified images of various groups for many reasons.